12. "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering that was inflicted on me, that the LORD brought on me in the day of his fierce anger?
13. "From on high he sent fire, sent it down into my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.
14. "My sins have been bound into a yoke; by his hands they were woven together. They have come upon my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand.
15. "The Lord has rejected all the warriors in my midst; he has summoned an army against me to crush my young men. In his winepress the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah.
16. "This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed."
17. Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The LORD has decreed for Jacob that his neighbors become his foes; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
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Reflection |
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Is This Nothing to You? (1:12–14)
The direction of the lament changes in verse 12. The author asks those who pass by, “Is this nothing to you?” Jerusalem is in ruins, people are suffering, and yet some act as though everything is alright. I am guilty of this too. I look around my neighborhood, my city, my nation, and see the devastating effects of sin. But more often than not, I remain indifferent, hard-hearted to the brokenness around me. We need to heed the warning to “look around and see.” We must learn to see what is right in front of our eyes and respond with a Gospel-infused love to the suffering that is all around us. Lamentations teaches us to look and see so that we might love and lament with those who are embattled by the brokenness of life.
Israel Rejected by God and Man (1:15–17)
It is impossible to pursue sin and pursue God at the same time. The result of Israel’s sin is that God has rejected them and exercised judgement through the Babylonian conquest. Comfort is hard to come by when the judgment we face is the result of our own actions, hence the author’s lament that there is no one to bring comfort to Jerusalem. It is interesting that by following false gods, Israel is in some sense trying to be like the other nations, yet by doing so these same nations reject her. The result is that Israel loses both her prophetic voice among the nations and her standing before God. You cannot serve two masters.
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Application |
- Why are we so often blind to the brokenness that is around us? How might you learn to look and see? How might you love someone who is overcome by the brokenness of the world?
- What might the church learn from the fact that Israel, in trying to be like the other nations, ends up being rejected by them? How can the church keep her prophetic voice in the world?
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A Letter to
God |
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Father, teach me to take holiness seriously. I desire to have a missional impact, but I realize that my witness will be compromised if my conduct does not align with Your character. Help me walk faithfully with You for Your glory and the salvation of others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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